Terrific Podcast Network

I mentioned in previous posts that podcasts can provide excellent material for professional learning. A one stop shop is the Edreach Network of podcasters. They cover a wide range of categories including the arts but their main focus is on technology and education.


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A Few Resources to Support Virtual Learning for Emergency Closure

There are many places online to find lessons, interactive Web sites, simulations, etc. to pull from to design learning activities for students to do in case of school closure. Here are a few.

WIS PS Library Web site: Online Resources  |  Websites for Communication, Creating, French, etc.

Web Resources for Learning: PD & ICL - go to the Digital Resources section for media, lessons, interactive sites, etc. iTunes U has resources for primary students. Also take a look for podcasts in iTunes that your students could listen to.  Thinking Routines: Look for ways to do the routines virtually using a variety of tools.

Pinterest: You can find all sorts of resources “pinned” by teachers from around the world.

Twitter Hashtags: One can search for hashtags to find resources. Examples are #ELL, #edtech, #french, etc.

Three gurus for sharing online resources: Kathy Schrock  |  Richard Byrne  | Larry Ferlazzo

WebQuests: WebQuests are terrific structures to support inquiry using online resources. You can find ones posted to the Web and/or create your own. They are project-based and collaborative which helps build community while students are stuck at home. 

Best Practice Videos

Looking for new instructional and assessment strategies from innovative teachers? Maybe you are thinking about digital portfolios, using the iPad as a creativity device or maybe using stories to teach math. All of these topics are covered in an excellent Web site created for teachers. The EduSlam best practices video site is a terrific place to learn from other teachers. The curators of the site interview teachers who share their best ideas in less than five minute videos. 

Personalized Learning

Professional development is increasingly being described in terms of "personalized learning" with individuals having control over how they spend their learning time not just for work but also for personal growth. This practice connects educators to a larger network of co-learners and resources. Just as we work to individualize and personalize learning for students, we do the same for teachers who are empowered to design their own "PD" with the "P" representing personal and professional. Learning has no boundaries as we pull in and share information in our network feeding our curiosity whether it be for Thai cooking, core strength training, differentiated instruction or using multimedia in assessments.  

A couple places to get a feel for this shift in professional learning are the EdSurge blog for field reports on how various schools and districts are "remixing" their PD and a white paper entitled "Solving the Professional Learning Crisis".

The familiar approach to professional development is to attend workshops in-school and travel to conferences. A shift has occurred which now puts the individual educator at the center of the professional learning process. Instead of relying on in-person, infrequent sources for development, educators now create Personal Learning Networks (PLN) made up of digital learning resources and people. PLNs not only provide learning opportunities, but build community by offering a forum for sharing ideas and collaborating with others. Speak with an ICL team member to learn more about using educator blogs, Twitter,podcasts, Nings and other digital resources to construct a PLN to meet your personal learning needs. 

For resources to support your personalized learning, look to check out the PD & ICL section of the Web Resources for Learning Web site. 

Blogging

Writing is a key component of our PYP curriculum, especially as our students learn in two languages. One location in which to give students easy access to their writing (i.e., no lost papers) is our school-wide system of Google Docs. The 24/7 access to one's work and ability to collaborate on projects and/or peer editing definitely enhances our writing program. A second tool to support student writing is blogging. Google provides a blogging system called Blogger.

Blogging is both rewarding and motivating for students as it is an authentic task of writing for an audience other than just their teacher. With a click of a hyperlink, bloggers can gather high quality information from our library Online Resources page to further leverage the connectivity that Blogger provides. They can then include links to Web sites as well as embed images and video into their blogs to further make connections in their thinking. Settings can be applied to limit the audience to parents of individual students, your classroom or the whole grade level. Blogs also can be set to be public on the Web. Blogging is about providing a continuously updated stream of communications, and clearly puts students into the position of constantly going through the writing process to publish their work. The comment feature in blogs enables a focus on analysis skills as students react to one another's posts. The conversation and learning go on outside the regular school day thus supporting blended learning.

Take a look at an excellent blog post about implementing blogging in your classroom. Notice the expansive conversation that develops in the commenting strands. Consider how students' blogs might encourage ongoing discussions about books, science activities, current events, and students' individual interests in the classroom. Here are two more helpful blog posts.

• 6th Graders Have Their Say: Why Students Value Blogging
• Why Blogging is So Valuable in the Elementary Classroom (Check the references section for links to other excellent resources)

Multimedia Poetry Books

The Grade 3 team will be doing a poetry unit later in the year. One of their options for students to write their poetry using multimedia is the Book Creator app on the iPad. Students can handwrite, add text, record their voice, draw images and insert photos into their digital books.

Poetry writing is just one of many ways that we can use Book Creator to have students be creative and communicate their understanding. Here are a few links to give you more info about using Book Creator for a poetry project.

Book Creator Overview

iBook on how to do a poetry project with Book Creator

iBook of student poetry projects

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Audio Recording

We have our students orally sharing throughout the school day. To record their ideas we often move to the writing process. Sometimes students use multimedia especially with visuals to represent their ideas. We also have apps and software that give us another way to help students share their thinking. Students can audio record using software like Audacity or GarageBand on their computers or apps like Audioboo or Voice Record Pro on their tablet to easily make their thinking and understanding available for others.

The following are some helpful blog posts to filled with ideas about how to use audio recording in your classroom:

• 5 Ways to Use Audioboo in Your Classroom
• Examples of AudioBoo Use in the Classroom
• Tutorials and Uses of Audioboo for Teaching and Learning

Note: Instructional technologists like myself work best when we can work from the instructional and learning needs of our teachers and students. With this in mind, please send me any instructional activities, student learning needs, learning goals, PD requests, etc. that you have that might be supported and enhanced by ICL. Thanks!

Mind Maps

We use all types of graphic organizers in our teaching. One excellent tool that especially supports spatial thinking and making thinking visible is the concept or mind map. One way to use a concept map to support our units of inquiry is to have students record the main concept for the unit to then write down their understandings and connections to it as they progress through the unit. One can also have students list the lines of inquiry to record their learning. 

A wonderful way to use concept maps for blended learning is to use an online provider like Mindmeister. Students can share their Mindmeister concept maps with you to provide access to their thinking-- for formative assessment of their understanding as the unit progresses. Here is a mind map template for essential questions (similar to lines of inquiry) that one teacher provided his students. Collaboration is easy if you decide to partner students, or place them in groups to work on any type of concept map. The key is that they can work on it during and after school via the web. Take a look a blog post describing how students used concept maps to answer the essential questions for their units of study.

There are several iPad apps that give students a quick and easy way to make their thinking visible. Students can drag ideas around the map grouping them and making connections. An added benefit is that many apps give students the opportunity to insert images, sounds and video to further develop and represent their thinking. 

Book Creation and Digital Storytelling

Having students demonstrate their understanding by creating short paper books is a common elementary school practice. There are many iPad apps (even more) and online resources like Storybird that empower students to be writers and publishers. As students move into the upper levels of the Primary School, they can collaborate to write digital textbooks using tools like iBooks Author or Google Sites. Teachers can be publishers as well, especially when the given paper textbook doesn't provide all that is needed and you want to include multimedia resources. Digital and online books are great differentiators of content by providing information in several modalities (images, audio, and video) and languages. Here is a sample online book. You can download free iBooks on your iPad by using the iBooks app. 

To deepen your understanding of creating iBooks, look to follow the work of Peter Pappas who is a leader in the field. Enjoy Peter Pappas' blog and listen to Edtech Co-Op podcasts where he shares his insights- podcast 26 and podcast 27. You can also download his free iBook on how to create iBooks.

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Learning Activity Types

Dr. Judi Harris and Dr. Mark Hofer of the College of William and Mary School of Education are leaders in the field of curriculum-based technology integration. They use an approach to technology integration that combines technology, pedagogy and content knowledge in a construct called TPACK. To support the convergence and application of these three areas of knowledge, Dr. Harris and Dr. Hofer worked with educators in multiple disciplines to find ways to enhance instructional strategies with technology. The result of their work can be found on the Learning Activity Types Web site in the form of instructional strategies (i.e., learning activity types) for teaching literacy, math, music, PE, science, language arts, social studies, visual arts and world languages. The instructional strategies in themselves are worth reviewing even if you don't want to use the technology that can support them. Note that some of the listed technologies are a bit out of date, though. Please let me know if you find instructional strategies that you would like me to find more up to date technologies to enhance them. 

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Video in the Primary School Classroom

FYI:

-The next Teachers Teaching Teachers (TTT) workshop will be on the topic of screencasting video creation. It will take place October 7th at 3:45 with a second session at 4:00. The sessions will be in room 209.

-There are new mailing groups in Gmail that list just the homeroom teachers and assistants for each grade. So when you just want to contact the four teachers at each grade level and assistants in early childhood, start typing for example “Grade 3” and you should see the choice of “Grade 3 Homeroom” to choose from.

-I hope these weekly PD newsletters are helpful. One of the shifts in professional learning is to make PD much more personalized with teachers drawing from a variety of digital sources including blogs, podcasts, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. to subscribe to specific providers of content to best meet one’s professional and personal learning needs. With this in mind, I am going to stop sending out this e-mail newsletter to the entire staff. You have a lot on your plates. So if you want to continue to receive this newsletter, please just REPLY to this email. I will then add you to the subscription list. Now to the topic of this newsletter...

Video in the Primary Classroom

There are so many ways that students can produce videos to share their understanding. A few possibilities are documentaries, book reviews, tutorials, interviews, TED Talks, and news reports whether current day or in a historical context. Video production supports project-based learning and collaboration. Screencasting on the iPads gives students the opportunity to use visuals, annotation and voice to make their thinking visible. To read more about video, view examples and see the latest video production from Cecilia and Carmen, go to the Videography section of the Web Resources for Learning website. And don’t forget to let me know when I video record a lesson from your classroom. 

Why iPads? Special Learning Needs

We use the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to apply adaptive technology and innovative strategies to support learning. In other words, we use technology to differentiate content, process and products for all learners. To learn more about UDL, look to listen to the EdTech Co-Op podcast 22 with Dr. Mark Hofer of the College of William and Mary. Dr. Hofer offers a clear case as to why UDL makes so much sense.

Two other UDL resources are the Center for Applied Special Technology and their publication Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age. Connecting to our efforts to help students build their own "personal learning systems", we can design learning plans (IEP) to include apps and web tools individualized for students to use at school and at home.

If you would like to search for UDL style apps, the following sites provide app reviews. They list many apps that offer a broad range of adaptive technologies to support all of our learners.

• Apps for Children with Special Needs
• One Place for Special Needs

Note: This edition of the iPad Weekly newsletter concludes the sharing of broad ways to use the iPads to support learning. Starting next week, the focus will be on pedagogy and how apps and Web tools can replace, amplify and transform learning. 

Why iPads? Personal Learning System

Students who use technology to access information while using digital "tools" to support their learning develop a personalized set of resources for learning... a "go-to" technology toolbox. We call such a collection of tools and resources one's Personal Learning System (PLS). Students use devices, apps and Web tools to help with small assignments. They also need to be project managers who engage their PLS as they plan for long term assignments while often working as member of a team. Finding and using tools to be organized and collaborative is key to managing one's individual and group learning projects.   

A “personal learning system” can include support tools in a variety of categories. The following are just a handful of options among many.

• Communication- We use e-mail, phones, and social networks to connect with others. Examples: Gmail, texting, phone calls, Skype
• Collaboration- Communicating to share ideas, work on projects and innovate draws upon and develops skills for 21st century learning and the workplace.  Technology facilitates the process of developing, organizing and sharing those ideas. Examples: Google Apps, Moodle (LMS), Mindmeister
• Curation of Information- Personal Learning Systems are more effective with a place to store, organize, and share the information we consume and create. Examples: Google Drive, Dropbox, Diigo, Pocket
• Documentation of Information- We need places and modalities (i.e., voice to text) to record and responsibly cite the ideas we gather from others as well as to make our thinking visible. Examples: Noodle Tools, Evernote, Notability, Siri, Google Now, PaperPort Notes, Google Docs, Audioboo,
• Reference and General Information Gathering- Remember the day when we had a dictionary, thesaurus, calculator and maybe an encyclopedia within easy reach of our workspace? Today we have online versions of each, along with a rich variety of apps on our devices. Examples: language translators, Britannica, iTunes for Podcasts, Chrome Browser with Extensions, one's school library Web site (e.g.,WIS PS Library Web site).
• Task and Time Management- The paper planner and calendar do not provide all the services offered by a web-based event and task management calendar. We can now easily access our time management systems across our computing platforms and integrate appointments and tasks into our e-mail. Examples: Google Calendar, Todoist, Wunderlist
• Tutorials- Developing lifelong learners who know how to learn independently is one of our primary goals. Knowing where to go to not only gather information but to also learn specific skills via online tutorials is so important. Examples: Vimeo Education, Khan Academy

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Why iPads? Consumption

Wifi connected iPads are just like networked computers allowing anyone to use a browser to search the internet and access Web sites. Students at WIS learn that their starting point for inquiry is our PS Library Website with its databases, safe search engines, media sources and lists of helpful, fun Web resources rich in media and text.  

The iTunes App Store is packed with apps that can help students practice and improve specific skills (e.g., language, math, science, etc). The iBooks app connects to the App Store for downloadable books. The Kindle app gives students access to eBooks that can be purchased or downloaded for free. The International Children's Digital Library app is an excellent source to find books in French, Spanish, Dutch and English. Students can also listen to books through the Audiobook and iTunes apps that provide recorded books, podcasts and other audio resources for easy downloading.

Many news and education providers have apps so students don’t have to navigate through a browser to access information. Examples are France 24, BBC and National Geographic.

Social media and news can be gathered from Twitter, blogs and Pinterest among others. Teachers and students can choose topics and questions using their ICL skills to find reliable resources from which they can subscribe to by using iPad apps. A couple excellent aggregator apps are Flipboard and Feedly. Subscribing through Flipboard or Feedly means that one doesn't have to go out on an individual basis to his/her favorite blogs, news sources or podcasts. All the latest updates are pulled into your aggregator app for easy access. See below for a screenshot of Feedly being used for professional development resources.

Consumption of information can be much more than just pulling from resource providers on the Web. Students and teachers can create their own content to be shared for others to consume on their iPads. This Web site is filled with ways to create and communicate one's ideas so think about students as authors (iBook), video producers (iMovie) and musicians (GarageBand). Focusing on multimedia, GarageBand is one of many apps that support music and podcast creation. Try using an iPad app like iMovie to produce tutorials, documentaries, documentation of museum visits, etc. And don't forget about using the iPad camera to record movement and skill attainment in dance, PE, sports team practices, etc. to then provide immediate feedback to one's students. 

Why iPads? Creativity

Think of the iPad as a tool for students to record, edit and synthesize media to then communicate their understanding. Students can record sounds, video, and still images using the Camera, GarageBand and iMovie applications. Each gives our students the power to edit a mixture of images, video and voice recordings to make their thinking visible.

A second way to create videos is through screencasting apps like Educreations and Explain Everything. There are so many ways in which screencasts can be used in our classrooms with students creating videos of number talks, how to's, reflections, thinking routines, etc. Here are several screencasts that a First Grade teacher had her students create. Screencasting is a wonderful technique that easily differentiates instruction by helping students communicate their understanding in an unrestricted environment. Watch Kindergarten student Marco's Spanish screencast on water by selecting the link below the image.  

Marco's screencast on water.

Talk about making thinking visible!

Below is a video podcast using Google Hangouts that shares classroom experiences where iPads were used to facilitate creativity and expression. It includes many lessons learned about how technology empowers students to apply their various literacies as they create and communicate their learning. Note that you need to get past the first few minutes of the video before the participants get down to business. :) The examples are from older students but there are many possibilities for "junior versions" with primary school students.

Why iPads? Communication and Collaboration

The iPad Weekly email/newsletter will be sent out on Thursdays to share focused information on using the iPads. The first several newsletters will provide answers to the question of “why iPads?”.

Help Desk is busy preparing the new iPads for your use. I will be setting up grade level and single subject teacher meetings to talk about how the iPads and apps can support your teaching and our POI.

Let’s get started with reasons why iPads can be so helpful. This first entry is a little long but hopefully helpful. And thanks to Becky for offering one example of how iPads can be used to communicate and collaborate.

There are a great many apps that help us communicate and collaborate when using the iPad. Here are just a few to get you started.

Padlet is a Web application that acts like a virtual bulletin board, allowing students to engage easily in responsive class discussions. Students "stick" their notes, questions, images or observations about the discussion onto a virtual bulletin board. Instantly review and collaborate or display students' responses on a projection screen via another iPad or laptop. Add multimedia to enhance your students' learning in class or save it to continue the conversation later.

Another option for communication and collaboration is the Google Drive app through which students can share their ideas by uploading their documents, slideshows, videos, images, etc. to the cloud. Students also can use the Pages and Keynote apps for creating outside the cloud to then share their work through Drive. Students can easily access and build upon these digital creations while also giving their parents access to their learning throughout the school year. The archived learning artifacts also help with student-parent conferences especially if students use eFolios to reflect about their learning as the year progresses.

For support with the research process, NoodleTools helps students collaborate in inquiry projects. Students can take notes, outline, create citations, and annotate their findings. There is also an option for students to save their work to Google Docs as they reflect and create.

Many apps give students the opportunity to communicate their understanding through multimedia presentations. Some are web-based so that they can be shared with an online audience, and others, like Keynote, are local just to the iPad. As noted, these local files can be uploaded to Google Drive or they can be inserted into a presentation Web site like Slideshare. At WIS, we provide the Presentation Tool Matrix for students and teachers to apply their technology literacy to the task of choosing the right tool for their presentation.

iPads also can support teacher to students and student to student communication while reading. Think about how you could support literacy by being able to highlight text, insert questions, add links and embed videos into digital text to then share it out to your students. Subtext is an app that adds theses functions while enabling groups and/or whole classes to share ideas while reading on their iPads. Take a look at a video for more information on Subtext.